Method and system for posting ideas to a reconfigurable website

• US 7,818,194 B2
• Filed: 04/13/2007
• Issued: 10/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Lin, Likuo, Lin, Justin, Yoshida, Norimasa, Joseph, Kingsley Jeegan
• Primary Examiner(s): DIXON, THOMAS A
• Application Number:
  US11/786,882
• Publication Number:
  US 20080256002A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,285 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7
• US Class Current: 705/7.32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Abstract

A method for automatically reconfiguring a webpage is provided. The web page may include a plurality of sections, and each section may include at least one aspect related to a particular topic, such as customer support and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted. A vote may be received vote for at least one of the plurality of sections. A Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) may be determined for each section of the website. An increasing function of time may be applied to newer votes to enable relative weightings of older votes to diminish over time without requiring computing a decaying time function to determine weightings for each vote. The webpage may be reconfigured based on ranking the sections according to the TQMC for each section.

Claims

1. A method for reconfiguring a web page, the method comprising:

sending, from a host system, a web page to a client machine, the web page including a plurality of sections, each section including at least one aspect of a topic and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted;

receiving from the client machine, at least one vote for at least one of the plurality of sections;

determining, by the host system, a Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for each of the plurality of sections of the website, by applying an increasing function of time to newer votes to enable relative weightings of older votes to diminish over time without requiring computing a decaying time function to determine weightings for each vote; and

reconfiguring the web page by ranking each of the plurality of sections according to the TQMC for each section.

2. The method of claim 1, the webpage including one or more links to tutorial information about using services provided by the host system that hosts the website.

3. The method of claim 1, the webpage including at least one link to information about upcoming releases of products provided in association with the website.

4. The method of claim 1, the webpage including one or more links to information about events where information is provided about services provided in association with the website.

5. The method of claim 1, the webpage includes one or more links that are in a location on the webpage designated for links to information about new features that were recently added to services provided in association with the website.

6. The method of claim 1, the webpage includes one or more links that are in a location on the webpage designated for links to articles that are downloaded more frequently than other articles.

7. The method of claim 1, the webpage includes one or more links that are in a location on the webpage designated for links relevant to at least one role.

8. The method of claim 7, the role is an administrator.

9. The method of claim 7, the role is a marketing executive.

10. The method of claim 7, the role is an Information Technology (IT) professional.

11. The method of claim 1, the webpage including links that are in a location on the webpage designated for links to top rated articles, which are listed by category.

12. The method of claim 1, the topics being customer help topics.

13. The method of claim 1, the topics being customer support topics;

the webpage including

one or more links that are labeled as having tutorial information about using services provided by the host system that hosts the website;

at least one link that is in a location designated for information about upcoming releases of products provided in association with the website;

one or more links that are in a location designated for information about events where information is provided about the services;

one or more links that are in a location designated for information about new features that were recently added to the services;

one or more links that are in a location designated for articles that are downloaded more frequently than other articles;

one or more links that are in a location designated for information relevant to at least three roles including an administrator, a marketing executive, and an information technology professional;

one or more links that are in a location designated for top rated articles, which are listed by category.

41. The method of claim 1, the webpage including a link for checking a status of services currently provided.

14. A machine-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for implementing a method for automatically reconfiguring a web page, the method comprising:

sending from a host system, a web page to a client machine, the web page including a plurality of sections, each section including at least one aspect of a topic and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted;

receiving, from the client machine, at least one vote for at least one of the plurality of sections;

determining, by the host system, a Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for each of the plurality of sections of the website, by applying an increasing function of time to newer votes to enable relative weightings of older votes to diminish over time without requiring computing a decaying time function to determine weightings for each vote; and

reconfiguring the web page by ranking each of the plurality of sections according to the TQMC for each section.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, the webpage including one or more links to tutorial information about using services provided by a host system that hosts the website.

16. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, the webpage including at least one link to information about upcoming releases of products provided in association with the website.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, the webpage including one or more links to information about events where information is provided about services provided in association with the website.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, the webpage includes one or more links that are in a location on the webpage designated for links to information about new features that were recently added to services provided in association with the website.

19. The machine-readable medium on the webpage of claim 14, the webpage includes one or more links that are in a location designated for links to articles that are downloaded more frequently than other articles.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, the webpage includes one or more links that are in a location on the webpage designated for links relevant to at least one role.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, the role is an administrator.

22. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, the role is a marketing executive.

23. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, the role is an Information Technology (IT) professional.

24. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, the webpage including links that are in a location on the webpage designated for links to top rated articles, which are listed by category.

25. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, the webpage including a link for checking a status of services currently provided.

26. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, the topics being customer support topics;

the webpage including

one or more links that are labeled as having tutorial information about using services provided by the host system that hosts the website;

at least one link that is in a location designated for information about upcoming releases of products provided in association with the website;

one or more links that are in a location designated for information about events where information is provided about the services;

one or more links that are in a location designated for information about new features that were recently added to the services;

one or more links that are in a location designated for articles that are downloaded more frequently than other articles;

one or more links that are in a location designated for information relevant to at least three roles including an administrator, a marketing executive, and an information technology professional;

one or more links that are in a location designated for top rated articles, which are listed by category.

27. A system comprising:

the machine readable medium of claim 14;

a web server for implementing the method stored on the machine readable medium; and

a web database for storing information associated with a website that is associated with the tenant.

42. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, the topics being customer help topics.

28. A system for reconfiguring a web page, the system comprising:

a host system having

a processor system,

volatile memory, and

non-volatile memory;

the non-volatile memory including at least one machine readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for which when implemented causes the processor system to implement a method comprising;

sending, from the host system, a web page to a client machine, the web page including a plurality of sections, each section including at least one aspect of a topic and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted;

receiving at the host system, at least one vote for at least one of the plurality of sections;

determining, by the host system, a Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for each of the plurality of sections of the website, by applying an increasing function of time to newer votes to enable relative weightings of older votes to diminish over time without requiring computing a decaying time function to determine weightings for each vote; and

reconfiguring the web page by ranking each the plurality of sections according to the TQMC for each section.

29. The system of claim 28, the processor system causing the webpage to include one or more links to present tutorial information about using services provided by a the host system that hosts the website.

30. The system of claim 28, the webpage to including one or more links to information about upcoming releases of products provided in association with the website.

31. The system of claim 28, the webpage to including one or more links to information about events where information is provided about services provided in association with the website.

32. The system of claim 28, the webpage includes one or more links, the links that are in a location on the webpage designated for links to information about new features that were recently added to services provided in association with the website.

33. The system of claim 28, the processor system causing the webpage to include one or more links that are in a location on the webpage designated for links to articles that are downloaded more frequently than other articles.

34. The system of claim 28, the webpage includes one or more links that are in a location on the webpage designated for links relevant to at least one role.

35. The system of claim 34, the role is an administrator.

36. The system of claim 34, the role is a marketing executive.

37. The system of claim 34, the role is an Information Technology (IT) professional.

38. The system of claim 28, the webpage including one or more links that are in a location on the webpage designated for links to top rated articles, which are listed by category.

39. The system of claim 28, the topics being customer help topics.

40. The system of claim 28, wherein the topics are customer support topics;

the processor system causing the webpage to include

one or more links labeled as having tutorial information about using services provided by the host system that hosts website;

at least one link that are in a location designated for information about upcoming releases of products provided in association with the website;

one or more links that are in a location designated for information about events where information is provided about the services;

one or more links that are in a location designated for information about new features that were recently added to the services;

one or more links that are located in a location designated for articles that are downloaded more frequently than other articles;

one or more links that are in a location designated for information relevant to at least three roles including an administrator, a marketing executive, and an information technology professional;

one or more links that are in a location designated for top rated articles, which are listed by category.

43. The system of claim 28, the webpage including a link for checking a status of services currently provided.

44. A method for reconfiguring a web page, the method comprising:

sending from a host system a web page to a plurality of client machines, the web page including a plurality of sections, each section including at least one aspect of a topic and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted;

receiving from the plurality of client machines, for each of a plurality of sections a series of votes, each series including at least a plurality of votes for the topic posted;

determining, by the host system, a Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for each of the plurality of sections of the website, by applying a nonuniform weighting to each of the plurality of series of votes received; and

reconfiguring the web page by ranking each of the plurality of sections according to the TQMC for each section.

45. A machine-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for implementing a method for automatically reconfiguring a web page, the method comprising:

sending from a host system, a web page to a plurality of client machines, the web page including a plurality of sections, each section including at least one aspect of a topic and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted;

receiving from the plurality of client machines, for each of a plurality of sections a series of votes, each series including at least a plurality of votes for the topic posted;

determining, by the host system, a Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for each of the plurality of sections of the website, by applying a nonuniform weighting to each of the plurality of series of votes received; and

reconfiguring the web page by ranking each of the plurality of sections according to the TQMC for each section.

46. A system for reconfiguring a web page, the system comprising:

a host system having

a processor system,

volatile memory, and

non-volatile memory;

the non-volatile memory including at least one machine readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for which when implemented causes the processor system to implement a method comprising;

sending from a host system, a web page to a plurality of client machines, the web page including a plurality of sections, each section including at least one aspect of a topic and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted;

receiving from the plurality of client machines, for each of a plurality of sections a series of votes, each series including at least a plurality of votes for the topic posted;

determining, by the host system, a Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for each of the plurality of sections of the website, by applying a nonuniform weighting to each of the plurality of series of votes received; and

reconfiguring the web page by ranking each the plurality of sections according to the TQMC for each section.

47. A method for reconfiguring a web page, the method comprising:

sending a web page from a host system to a plurality of client machines, the web page including a plurality of sections, each section including at least one aspect of a topic and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted;

receiving from at least one of said plurality of client machines, a vote for at least one of the plurality of sections, wherein said vote is input via the plurality of client machines;

determining, by the host system, a Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for the plurality of sections by weighting each vote based on when a vote is received, wherein a newer vote is weighted more than an older vote; and

reconfiguring the web page by ranking each of the plurality of sections according to the TQMC for each section.

48. A machine-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for implementing a method for automatically reconfiguring a web page, the method comprising:

sending a web page from a host system to a plurality of client machines, the web page including a plurality of sections, each section including at least one aspect of a topic and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted;

receiving from at least one of said plurality of client machines, a vote for at least one of the plurality of sections, wherein said vote is input via the plurality of client machines;

determining, by the host system, a Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for the plurality of sections by weighting each vote based on when a vote is received, wherein a newer vote is weighted more than an older vote; and

reconfiguring the web page by ranking each of the plurality of sections according to the TQMC for each section.

49. A system for reconfiguring a web page, the system comprising:

a host system having

a processor system,

volatile memory, and

non-volatile memory;

the non-volatile memory including at least one machine readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for which when implemented causes the processor system to implement a method comprising;

sending a web page from a host system to a plurality of client machines, the web page including a plurality of sections, each section including at least one aspect of a topic and an option for casting a vote for a topic posted;

receiving from at least one of said plurality of client machines, a vote for at least one of the plurality of sections, wherein said vote is input via the plurality of client machines;

determining, by the host system, a Total Qualitative Management Criterion (TQMC) for the plurality of sections by weighting each vote based on when a vote is received, wherein a newer vote is weighted more than an older vote; and

reconfiguring the web page by ranking each of the plurality of sections according to the TQMC for each section.